By Franklin SchneiderAh, Shaw. I know I've talked a fair amount of trash in this space about Shaw, but it's really hard to beat, as neighborhoods go. I
house-sat for a friend in Adams Morgan this past week, thinking it would be a welcome change from my almost morbidly quiet Shaw neighborhood. But I was wrong. The very first night I was there, someone stole my bike. The next night, I threw on some “comfy” clothes to go pick up a pizza a block away, and when I crossed paths with a group of bargoers, they looked at me like I was Casey Anthony. I mean, come on, it was a Tuesday night at 6:30! If that had happened in Shaw, I would've been congratulated for wearing any pants at all. I learned my lesson; you want to be near the action, but not in it.
With that in mind, this five bedroom renovated Shaw rowhouse would be the perfect homebase; your retreat from the city, in the city. Roundabouts 1st and P Streets, NW, it's really close to everything (Chinatown, U Street, Logan Circle, etc.) without being neck deep in it. And location aside, the house is beautiful. There are wide plank Brazilian Cherry floors throughout the house, and the walls are painted in light but rich tones. There's a chef's kitchen, with a Wolf gas range, and there are tons of little touches, from the M.C. Escher-esque tiling in the master bathroom, to the future-retro marble fireplace in the living room, that would make a great t-shirt if it wasn't, like, 1500 pounds. The banisters, instead of using the usual wooden dowels/planks, use a heavy metal mesh, to striking effect, and the entire house is wired for sound, so you can inflict your musical “tastes” on everyone else in the house whenever you want. In the back is parking for two cars, and a private fenced patio.
Plus, the house is right on the alley, cutting your odds of having a loud, annoying neighbor by fifty percent. Take it from someone who used to live sandwiched between an elderly gameshow enthusiast, and a married couple who communicated chiefly by screaming: this is huge.
118 Bates St. NW
Washington DC 20001
$685,323
$685,323
6 comments:
This is not Shaw.
This is Truxton Circle (the area bounded by Florida Ave to the north, New York Ave to the south, North Capitol St to the east and New Jersey Ave to the west.
I had a friend who lived on that block a couple of years ago & even the pizza delivery places wouldn't come to that street. $685K?? Wow.
It is fine to call it Shaw. It is within the boundaries set by the National Capital Planning Commission and RLA and other DC and Fed agencies back in the 60s. Truxton more or less emerged in the 80s. I think of it as a sub-neighborhood of Shaw. There is a small contingent who want to call it Dunbar-Shaw instead of Truxton Circle.
$685K is a bit much, but lets see what the market says.
It should be called Truxton Circle and they should put the circle back(intersection of N. Cap/Florida Ave/Lincoln Rd) which would anchor and identify the neighborhood. Truxton Circle was removed in the Late 1950's-early 60's and so predates Shaw Improvement District. Imagine Logan Circle neighborhood without the actual circle...As an interesting historical note, Joe Mamo's former Exxon/now vacant lot on the former TC was an open air(drive-in) movie house in the early 20th century.
Oh cool -- alley living! More likely that it will be frequented by local homeless people relieving themselves and dog owners letting their dogs piss and poop out of view so that the future unlucky owner can clean it all up each morning. Welcome to the neighborhood, suckers.
Top-down/bottom-up window blinds might be the answer for all those alley windows; they'll allow light to flood in while maintaining privacy from the pedestrians -- if not from any peepingtom neighbors across the alley.
+ Owners get a great councilmember who keeps setting high standards for progress in Shaw and the rest of DC!
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